Rajesh Parmar joined the lab!

Rajesh Parmar joined the Reed Lab in July 2019 as a postdoctoral scholar. His work focuses on the use of systems-based statistical and computational immunology to define altered host-pathogen interactions leading to methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacterial infections by generating genomic and transcriptomic data from human patient samples. The primary goal of this project is to develop a predictive model by using a systems immunology approach to predict the outcome of MRSA infection in humans.

Rajesh received his Ph.D. from the Institute of Science, Nirma University, India. His Ph.D. work focused on the very challenging and exciting topic of malaria liver-stage immunology with a focus on the innate immune response to whole sporozoite vaccination. Since malaria is still a challenge in developing countries, it is a good system for studying basic immunology. During his Ph.D., he was very interested in how the innate immune response and dendritic cell biology influenced the shaping of adaptive immunity. He was especially intrigued by studies of malaria liver-stage immune response and how it activates gene expression during infection or vaccination. With this interest, he was excited to expand his knowledge of this topic in the Reed Lab. Outside the laboratory, he enjoys cooking, singing, and playing badminton and squash.

Welcome Rajesh!